The New York Times wrote a piece looking back on the accomplishments and frustrations of Dr. Irwin Redlener, one of the founders of the Children’s Health Fund, who is stepping down from his administrative position this week.

Dr. Redlener’s team began the Children’s Health Fund in 1987 as a response to the poverty he saw in NYC. Today, it has more than 50 mobile pediatric clinics nationwide, and it is an important model for other initiatives in urban areas where poverty and systemic inequality endanger the health of children. Dr. Redlener lived his life to his word when he said, “life and work are based on a simple message: Kids can’t wait.” He points out that the consequences of failing to address a child’s health needs at each stage of development are real and irreversible. For example, failing to treat a child’s ear infection with antibiotics - a relatively simple thing to do - can lead to hearing loss in the long run, which is both a personal disability and a societal cost.

In NYC, the number of children living in city shelters have doubled since 1986. According to the New York Times, there are about 22,000 children living in city shelters today. This statistic has grave implications for children’s health. If these children do not have homes, their nutrition, education, and immunizations are all at risk. Economic factors have worsened the housing situation in NYC for the poor over the past few decades, and society has not come up with sufficient mechanisms to compensate for that.

Instead, at the national level, lawmakers seem determined to chip away at the existing social safety net even further in cuts to Medicaid under the proposed healthcare bill. Dr. Redlener told the New York Times that such cuts would leave children in more danger than ever during his career of over 30 years. He said that politicians have certainly frequently debated the parameters of what Medicaid would cover, but to gut the program as it is now being proposed had never entered the picture.

It is clear that we are at a critical juncture for the future of children’s healthcare, especially for children living in urban areas. Prioritizing the health of children today means preserving the societal health of the future.

To learn more about Dr. Relener and his work, read the full New York Times article. You can also read his upcoming book, "The Future of Us: What the Dreams of Children Mean for Twenty-First-Century America,” which will be published this September.